First Day of Kindergarten: 8 Survival Skills

The first day of kindergarten is busy, busy, busy! Learning the names, faces, parents and personalities of all of the students on the class list is essential. You must teach routines and procedures. You need to hold the attention of a roomful of active, excited little minds. New faces will show up that you'll have to add to the class list.

Be prepared for kinks in the plans. Bus numbers will change. Duty assignments will be modified -- now you have morning and afternoon duties for the first few weeks. Lesson plans are due -- and the principal wants lessons plans for the entire week. And no, there is no nap time for the students (or the teacher)! Oh, and don't forget open house -- teachers will need to stay into the evening (I hate it when people think teachers get off at 3:00 every afternoon), but still be at work on time the following morning to receive students.

What does a kindergarten teacher need to do to survive? Here are eight handy survival skills.

1. Nametags

Some kindergarteners may be new to the "school experience." Moving to the cafeteria, going to the bathroom, and working in their classroom may be brand new concepts to them. Have students wear nametags with their name, their school, and their teacher's name for the first week or two. Not only will this help teachers and other support staff learn their names, but it will also help ensure their safety during transition and dismissal time. (And have spare nametags -- a couple of students will mysteriously lose theirs.)

2. Lunch Plan

If your school provides kindergarteners with lunch, know how each student will eat lunch. Find out how much students need for lunch. Have this information ahead of time so that you can answer parents' questions. Make sure you have a procedure in place to collect money and pay for lunches.

3. Going Home

Make it your business to know how each student will get home from school. Find out if he or she is riding the bus or being picked up. Make sure the students are being released to the proper guardian or caretaker. Know this information ahead of time and communicate with each parent to find out if there are any changes. Write down each student’s method of transportation on his or her nametag to help ensure smooth dismissal -- for example, "bus # 100" or "car rider."

4. Transition Times

Twenty kindergarteners will not sit still at their desks or stand perfectly in line the first day -- or any day -- if it's for a long period of time with no structured activity. Minimize transition times as much as possible. For example, once students have put up their pencils, they may continue to independently work on their coloring activity while the other students put up their pencils.

5. Lines

Keep the lunch line moving (money is out and ready), or keep the water fountain line moving (each student has ten seconds to drink water then back to line). Stop the line every so often to check that it remains straight and students are quiet. If a student loses a shoe (someone always will), have that student step out of line to fix the shoe while the line continues. When the line comes to a stop, the student may walk back to his or her place or remain at the end.

6. Keep Students Busy

Whole group instruction may include calendar or story time. Small group activities should be structured. For example:

Show the kids how to build patterns with blocks, and give visible examples so they'll know what is expected.

Show them how to match lowercase and uppercase letters. For the first few weeks, set up a model showing what the lower- and uppercase letters look like.

7. Behavior

Show interest in all of your students. Make each one feel wanted. Do not assume they know how to do anything. Give clear directions, and have students demonstrate back the expected behavior to ensure understanding.

8. Be Prepared

Elementary teachers are expected to have pencils, papers, colors, construction paper and glue, but kindergarten teachers should be even more prepared with:

A spare change of clothing in case a student forgot his or hers and has an accident

Some non-latex bandages in case students have latex allergies

A belt in case a student shows up without properly fitting pants

A large bottle of water stashed for yourself, because you will break a sweat at some point and get very thirsty

A squishy ball, which sometimes helps a student who is extremely fidgety

Kindergarten teachers have one of the most challenging but rewarding jobs. When something goes wrong, just breathe and stay calm. When the day is over, think of a plan to better handle the situation next time. The first days are very challenging, but stand firm, stay committed and have a great year.

I don't plan on teaching kindergarten, but the title was very eye catching. One skill that stood out to me was the name tags for the students to have for the first two weeks of school. It won't only help the teacher learn their students' names, but it will also make the kids feel relevant, it makes a kid feel special when the teacher personally knows them by their name. Another skill that stood out to me was keeping the students busy. Many teachers make the mistake by having children just sit once everything is done or in-between lessons, which most of the time could be a mistake. The students at this age will sometimes get off task and rowdy, making it hard for the teacher to bring them back to focus. This was a very interesting and helpful blog for many new teachers; great job!

I agreed with this article. I haven't had my own classroom yet but I have seen some teachers follow these tips and it worked out good for them. You also brought new ideas to my attention such as the name badges. I have never seen a teacher give their students name badges to try and learn their names. I bet this is very helpful, fun, and great way to remember your students face and name at the same time. All this tips are great and will be helpful for me as a future educator that also wants to teach kindergarten.

I agree with your article and I really like your tips. I was a Teachers Assistant for about 4 years and I really enjoyed working with Kindergarten students. This is the grade level that I would like to teach when I get my teaching credential. I have seen all of your tips in action especially the one about the name tags. I almost always had a kid begin to wonder off and I would be able to call his/her name to get his/her attention back on me. Name tags are a blessing. The other tip that I really liked was the one about going home. This is something that I never thought of and I would use in the future when I have my own classroom

Hi. Your article is very true and close to reality.I am very new in the teaching and is presently at the novice stage of development. The way you have described it, seems to be the mirror image my situation. of is presently what is happening in my classroom. One of the great ideas that caught my attention was name tags. They are so important as teachers it will really help to remember the names of the new students. Have all the information for example lunch plans, bus arrangements. Curious young minds are so excited the directress really has to be well prepared with the plan for the day. Allergies and their medical back up, contact sheet of all parents etc. To aim for effective student learning the directress, should keep the teaching or introducing session for the unit to be about 20 ,minutes at the circle time. To stop and explain very clear rules about the behaviour expected in classroom.

Hello. I've been teaching Kindergarten for 6 years. I live in Mexico City and teach English in a private school. I've used many of these tips and they work, but where I have trouble is keeping 20 kids busy.

As a future teacher myself I found this blog entry to be very insightful. The first day of kindergarten can be just as intimidating for the new teacher as it is for the students. I am glad you pointed out the "kinks in the plan" portion of teaching. It would be foolish to think every day went smoothly. It is important to be calm and collective when plans are suddenly altered. I love your idea of putting the student's transportation method on their name tags. I would just hope the students keep the name tags on their shirt! I think the most important rule of survival that you pointed out was to "be prepared". Having an extra change of clothes, belt, and bandages are things that a lot of people would not consider to have in their classroom. This entry was very insightful for me. I believe that some of these survival tips could be carried into other grade levels as well. I will definitely have to bookmark this page. Thanks for the tips!

I have been teaching kindergarten for over 30 years. My best advise to survive the first day of kindergarten is over planning and do not under estimate a five-year-old. Over planning a variety of activities will help the day to run more smoothly You have to keep in mind for many children this is their first experience away from home. You have to listen to the children to see what they are feeling and experiencing. If you keep this in mind, you will know how to direct their day and keep your sanity.

I have taught kindergarten for two years now. I continue to struggle with practicing rules and procedures. How do you do this? What are you tips? When you introduce a new center, toy, concept, do you do so by modeling it and then having the whole class practice the procedure?

jkay, I always model the activity first. Sometimes just by myself and sometimes with a student buddy who I think can demonstrate the toy, center, or concept in a solid way. Although sometimes I may pick a student who I think might struggle and I get them engaged by doing the concept, toy or center by providing them very high support for modeling. And then at times I have students do all the modeling. I have to say the #1 source for this sort of stuff is Responsive Classroom. If you haven't heard of a Guided Discovery from Responsive Classroom please research it here: https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/guided-discovery-in-action/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz6V483pg3A

Lastly, check out The First Six Weeks of School which helps you set up those rules and procedures first thing in the school year. It does take time however it is ALWAYS time well spent.

I highly recommend getting some responsive classroom professional development but you can start online- there are excellent resources all over the internet. The in-person PD around Responsive Classroom is typically excellent, but if you can't wing that, at least try and find a school that does responsive classroom to make some visits and see it in action.